TVI Express: Fits FOUR OUT OF FIVE RED FLAGS of MLM Scam

Las Vegas, NV, USA  Image via Wikipedia

Truth on MLM website has a list of 5 red flags that the MLM is probably a scam, and TVI Express hits FOUR out of FIVE flags! One or two is probably a coincidence, but FOUR?!?!

RED FLAG 1. Recruiting of participants is unlimited in an endless chain of empowered and motivated recruiters recruiting recruiters – ad infinitum.

TVI Express fits this to a Tee... You're supposed to recruit two, and teach each of them to recruit two more, since it's the only way they can "cycle out" for the big payout.

WHY is this bad? Because eventually the market will saturate, and no more payout! You run out of people to recruit, and that's NOT even discussing the legality of the whole thing!

RED FLAG 2: Advancement in a hierarchy of multiple levels of "distributors" is achieved by recruitment, rather than by appointment.

In a real MLM, you advance by achieving sales goals. According to TVI Express's own FAQ, you achieve higher levels by cycling through the express board multiple times, which is done by recruitment, not sales/appointment. This is a STRONG indicator of pyramid scheme.

RED FLAG 3: Pay to play requirements are satisfied by ongoing "incentivized purchases*

TVI Express has a one time payment, so it does NOT fit this red flag.

RED FLAG 4. Company payout per sale for the person actually selling the product is less than the total of all upline participants , creating inadequate incentive to retail and excessive incentive to recruit – and an extreme concentration of income at the top.

TVI Express FAQ specifically states that you don't need to sell ANYTHING, thus there is NO incentive to do sales. However, you are told that the "board payout" is $10000 (based on current FAQ), so there is excessive incentive to recruit and "cycle out".

The "residual income" compensation was never defined. There are some percentages mentioned in the FAQ, but they are referred to as "commission", not residual income, and how they actually add up, or how it is shared with upline, is left unexplained. Thus, they do not qualify as incentives at all.

RED FLAG 5: The company pays commissions and/or bonuses to more than
five levels of "distributors."

According to TVI Express itself, its "matrix structure pays till infinity". On the other hand, this is moot, since there is no incentive to sell, but plenty of incentive to recruit. And as explained before, its commission pay structure is left vague and undefined.


So what is the conclusion based on these red flags? From the article itself:

"...when all five (or at least the first four) of these red flags are found in an MLM, the percentage of all participants who lose money after expenses is approximately 99.9% – far worse than the 87.5–93.3% loss rate for classic, no-product pyramid schemes and for many games of chance in Las Vegas. You will likely do better selling pencils on a street corner."

So yes, 99.6% of you will lose your money, and this is the mathematical result based on the way the two separate 2x3 matrices work.

(If you want the math, here goes... your chance of getting your money back is 1 in 15, since you need others to cycle out of the traveller board. That's roughly 6.7%, or you will lose 93.3% of the time. If you take 6.7% of 6.7%, to account for the express board, you get 0.44%. Your chances of making the $10000+whatever is 0.44%, so the chances of NOT making it is 99.56%)

Keep in mind that in a Vegas-style roulette, your chance of losing is merely 54%.

Or put it in other words, you have better chances at Vegas of winning with your $250 than investing in TVI Express.

And indeed, TVI Express is among the 300+ "recruiting MLMs" listed at the website! (Click on the link, look on the left side, scroll down to T and look for it)